On Tuesday evening, CBS broke wide open a story on State Department
e-mails showing the White House knew on September 11 that the consulate
in Benghazi was subjected to a terrorist attack, and that terrorists
took credit on Facebook and Twitter. But by Wednesday, the three network
morning shows weren't leaping to follow up. ABC and CBS combined
devoted just over a minute to the story, while NBC completely ignored it.
By contrast, all three newscasts showed that they were more interested
in helping the Democrats in Indiana, aggressively spotlighting Indiana
Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's faith-based affirmation
that he did not support abortion even in the case of rape, that even
those are children "God intended." Mourdock's "controversial comments"
drew more than seven and a half minutes of coverage [1].
CBS This Morning
spent the most time on the recently-released e-mails. Anchor Charlie
Rose noted during a 52-second short report that "a third alert reported
an Islamic military group had claimed responsibility. This is the earliest record so far showing U.S. officials were told it could be a terrorist attack. It became a campaign issue, as Republicans criticized the Obama administration for not calling it terrorism sooner."
However, this was significant downgrade from the two minutes and 17 seconds that CBS Evening News devoted
to the story on Tuesday. Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson gave a more
detailed timeline than Rose did, and pointed out that the e-mails are "likely to become part of the ongoing political debate over whether the administration attempted to mislead in saying the assault was an outgrowth of a protest, rather than a planned attack by terrorists." Neither ABC's World News nor NBC Nightly News covered the story the same evening.
ABC's Good Morning America devoted less than half the time - 25 seconds - on the Benghazi development than CBS This Morning.
News anchor Josh Elliott summarized that "newly-obtained e-mails show
the State Department and the White House were advised that a militant
group had claimed responsibility just two hours after the attack. For several days after, the White House still publicly attributed the attack to spontaneous protests. Intelligence sources point out other possibly conflicting messages may also have been sent."
This is just the latest instance of the broadcast media being more
interested in pursuing a story that might be injurious to Mitt Romney
than an actual White House scandal. Earlier in October, ABC, CBS, and
NBC all ignored a scoop [2]
from the Spanish-language network Univision, who found 57 previously
unreported firearms in the Fast and Furious gunwalking controversy that
were used by Mexican drug cartels in crimes.
More blatantly, the Big Three devoted 88 minutes during one week [3]
in September to the secretly-recorded "47 percent" remark from the
former Massachusetts governor, compared to only six and a half minutes
of coverage to a 14-year old recording of Obama voicing his support of
redistribution of wealth.
The full transcript of Sharyl Attkisson's report from Tuesday's CBS Evening News, along with Charlie Rose's short report from Wednesday's CBS This Morning and Josh Elliott's brief from Wednesday's Good Morning America on ABC:
10/23/2012
06:30 pm EDT
CBS Evening News
SCOTT PELLEY (teaser): Sharyl Attkisson has obtained e-mails from the night of the attack on the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi. What the Obama administration knew and did not know.
06:34 pm EDT
PELLEY: It was six weeks ago today that terrorists attacked the U.S.
consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Now, we've obtained e-mail alerts that
were put out by the State Department as the attack unfolded. As you
know, four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Christopher
Stevens.
Sharyl Attkisson has our story.
SHARYL ATTKISSON (voice-over): The e-mails contain the earliest
descriptions so far of what happened at Benghazi the night of the
attack. At 4:05 p.m. Eastern time on September 11, an alert from the
State Department operations center was issued to a number of government
and intelligence agencies - included were the White House Situation
Room, the office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the FBI:
'U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi under attack. Approximately 20
armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well. Ambassador
Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four chief of mission
personnel are in the compound safe haven.'
At 4:54, less than an hour later, another alert: 'The firing in
Benghazi has stopped. A response team is on site attempting to locate
chief of mission personnel.' Then, at 6:07, State sent out another
alert, saying the embassy in Tripoli reported the Islamic military
group, Ansar al-Sharia, claims responsibility for Benghazi attack on
Facebook and Twitter, and 'has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli'.
The e-mails are just a few in what is likely a large number traded
throughout the night, and they're likely to become part of the ongoing
political debate over whether the administration attempted to mislead in
saying the assault was an outgrowth of a protest, rather than a planned
attack by terrorists. Fourteen hours after the attack, President Obama
sat down with Steve Kroft of '60 Minutes' for a previously scheduled
interview, and said he did not believe it was simply due to mob
violence.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA (from interview on CBS's "60 Minutes"): You're
right that this is not a situation that was exactly the same as what
happened in Egypt, and my suspicion is that there are folks involved in
this who were looking to target Americans from the start.
ATTKISSON (on-camera): The White House and State Department declined
comment on the e-mail alerts. The House Oversight Committee, Scott, told
us the information in the e-mails will be part of their ongoing
investigation into the Benghazi attack.
PELLEY: Sharyl, thank you.
10/24/2012
07:15 am EDT
CBS This Morning
[CBS News Graphic: "Deadly Libya Attack: Early E-Mails Suggest Terrorism Suspected"]
CHARLIE ROSE: We have a new hour-by-hour picture this morning of the
attack that killed the United States ambassador to Libya. Correspondent
Sharyl Attkisson has obtained State Department e-mail alerts. They were
sent while the attack on the U.S. consulate was underway. Four Americans
died, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The first alert was
sent that afternoon. It read, 'U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi under
attack'. The alert was sent to the White House situation room and other
government offices. The next e-mail read, 'The firing has stopped;
attempting to locate embassy personnel.' Two hours after the first
e-mail, a third alert reported an Islamic military group had claimed
responsibility. This is the earliest record so far showing U.S.
officials were told it could be a terrorist attack. It became a campaign
issue, as Republicans criticized the Obama administration for not
calling it terrorism sooner.
10/24/2012
07:07 am EDT
ABC - Good Morning America
JOSH ELLIOTT: Meanwhile, new details about the deadly attack on the
U.S. consulate in Libya. Newly-obtained e-mails show the State
Department and the White House were advised that a militant group had
claimed responsibility just two hours after the attack. For several days
after, the White House still publicly attributed the attack to
spontaneous protests. Intelligence sources point out other possibly
conflicting messages may also have been sent.